Chihiro's Return
by Aidulin41
Summary: Chihiro thought she had moved on with her life. She had a steady job, a home she loved, what more could she want? But 15 years after the fact, she couldn't help remembering that Haku said they'd meet again, and she was done waiting.
1. Return to Tochinoki

Chapter 1: Return to Tochinoki

It was my day off. Normally, I would have stayed home and worked in my garden or done some cooking. Normally, I would have spent the day relaxing and making sure I was caught up on work. But that day was not a normal day. That day, I was going for a drive.

It was farther than I remembered. Of course, I hadn't lived in the blue house with my parents for years. I could still see it, there on the end, as I entered the woods. Dad hadn't repainted it red like he'd threatened before I left. The overgrown road felt long beneath my wheels. Then again, I'm a slower driver than Dad. Safer, too. I remember wondering that the area hadn't been built up after all those years.

At last, hundreds of little cinder-block houses later, I could see it. The two-faced stone head against an old red wall - more crumbled than 15 years before. Naturally, I would have to go in. I still wasn't sure if everything that happened those four days was just a dream.

'_They still haven't fixed that leak,_' I thought as I walked through a large, nearly empty room. The steady drip I heard was unmistakeable. In another moment, I had stepped onto fresh green grass. Hardly anything had changed since my first visit here, but that was hardly surprising. This place was half spirit world - it would probably stay young and vibrant forever.

Suddenly, I wondered if I really had the courage to do this. Haku had said we would see each other again - but it had been 15 years! Was I supposed to come here like this? Had he meant to come to the human world again. I remembered how he said he could go no further that last day. Was this field an ocean to him then, as it had been for me up to that point? Since his river had been filled in, would it always be so for him? I sighed, and sat on a rock as I reached the dry riverbed. '_I should have brought lunch,_' I thought. '_I could have had a picnic._' The thought brought a chuckle to my lips. If only Mom could see this.

In the near distance, I could see the tall staircase the served as a dock at night. A little farther on, the restaurants where the spirits ate when they came from their homes for a relaxing evening. Farthest of all, the roof of the bathhouse. A tendril of steam rose into the sky, marking the location of the great boiler that heated the bathhouse.

It was then that I knew. I had to do this. I stood, and strode purposefully across the grassy space to the stairs. I took them two at a time. Time was all that mattered then - this must be done before nightfall. '_Don't go in,_' I reminded myself while passing the restaurants. The intoxicating smell was just what I remembered. I shivered at the memory of Mom and Dad turning into pigs as punishment for their gluttony. Then, I remembered that I had nearly disappeared as a result of not eating the food of the spirits. I glanced nervously at my hand. Still solid, but who knew how long that might last. Three days' worth of meals probably didn't count after so many years. A moment spent reflecting on that was more than enough. A few more landings and I was at a bridge. Across the bridge was the bathhouse, Yubaba's bathhouse. A shiver ran down my spine. What if she stole my name again? Haku had left her employment - he might not even be here anymore. Of course, that was nonsense. Where else would he go? Would he take the train? I'd been down the whole route. There was nowhere he'd want to go, I was certain.

He had to be in the bathhouse.

He had to.

Didn't he?

'_Pull yourself together,_' I thought. '_It's not like it's the end of the world if he's broken his promise. Almost everyone you know has done that._' Somehow the thought was comforting. Although it was true. '_Maybe you should just go home. You've seen the bathhouse, isn't that enough?_' It wasn't enough. I'd come this far, I should do what I came to do. I reached behind my head and touched the shining purple hair tie around my ponytail. '_Still good, after all this time using it._' Resolutely, I set off across the bridge. It was so quiet. I remembered the bathhouse didn't get too much use in the daytime, that was mostly the time for cleaning. Even so, the silence was giving me chills. I brushed the curtain aside - and stepped inside the bathhouse.


	2. Sentō (Bathhouse)

Chapter 2: Sentō (Bathhouse)

I stepped into the lobby of the bathhouse, half hoping that it would be empty, that those four days 15 years ago had been a dream. The other half of me was hoping against hope that it would be true. Those days, that experience, had gotten me through moving to Tochinoki - to a place where I didn't yet have friends. A place where I had to start all over. That time had helped me become a better person.

The second half of me was right. That strange little frog-man, the foreman, was sitting at the front booth as usual, minding the phone and the bath tokens. Several girls and women ran across the floor with damp cloths, cleaning. After a moment, they all looked up at me, noses pinched. I stood frozen in the entryway. Someone in the kitchen complained about the stink of humans. One of the girls was the first to move, peering closely at me like there was something she hadn't quite been able to remember. It took me a moment to realize it was Lin.

"Sen?" she asked. She hadn't grown much older. Must be the spirit world's magic again.

"Yep, it's me," I said. I hoped I wouldn't say anything weird.

"You came back," she asked. "Why? You must have gotten out before - I haven't seen you since you passed Yubaba's test!"

"Can we talk somewhere else?" I didn't want to distract everyone else from their work. Not that it made much difference. I could hear a lot of the bathhouse employees gathering outside the door as soon as Lin closed it. "I came back because..." Suddenly I wasn't sure what to say. "Because I missed all of you. It's been a long time, and I just needed to see you again." I could feel my palms sweating against my knees. It was true, but it was weird being here after all this time. I didn't mention that I'd convinced myself it had been a dream a few years after the fact. "It's changed so little."

"That would be magic." Lin grinned at me. "I still can't believe you're here!" She took my hand. "We should tell Kamaji before you do anything else." She hurried me off to the elevator, and down we went. Before long, we were ducking through the sliding door into the boiler-room.

The room was heavily scented with herbs and toasty warm from the furnace. Kamaji was sitting up on his platform, rubbing away at some formula for an herbal soak. "Lunchtime already, Lin?" he asked, surprised.

"Hardly," Lin replied. "Breakfast was only an hour and a half ago. I have a surprise for you."

Kamaji crushed the last of the herbs in a stroke of his pestle and sent up the formula. He craned his head around to see Lin, then came the rest of the way. He hadn't aged a bit. "Is that Sen?"

"In the flesh," I said. "It's good to see you, Kamaji."

"And to see you, Sen." Kamaji rubbed his forehead. "Been a long time, hasn't it? You could've visited sooner." I flushed, just a little embarrassed that I hadn't come sooner. Waiting seemed silly in retrospect. "So, what have you been doing all this time?" he asked.

"Not much," I replied. "I have a job now, helping run a gardening store. I paint, sometimes..." I trailed off. Frankly, my life was boring compared to everyone at the bathhouse.

"Well, that's fine." He lifted one long arm and touched my hair. "I never thought I'd see you again."

I smiled. "I never thought I'd see you either. Except in my paintings, of course."

Kamaji glanced at his watch. "I can't talk much more than this before I get a real break. This is the busy season, and Yubaba's been working us all to the bone lately."

"I understand," I said. "I'll leave you to it." So Yubaba did still run the place. Honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if the baby was still around, too. I took a moment to greet the soot gremlins. They recognized me immediately - I could tell when they pantomimed having enormous strength and squashing slugs on the hard floor. I wondered if they had missed me when I left.

We took the elevator back to the main floor. "Lin, is Haku still here?" I asked. I wasn't holding my breath, but it did seem like the most likely option. This was the closest thing to a home he still had - unless he had gone to Zeniba's house.

"No," she replied. "He left not long after you did." I nodded. The elevator door opened. "Is that the real reason you came?"

"Well, that's the other part," I said. We stepped out into the lobby.

"I'll take the day off. I don't know what you see in that guy, but I'll help you look," Lin said. "I have a little money - it might be enough to get on the train."

I shook my head. "You should save that for when you leave for good." Then I had an idea. "We can use one of those boats. The water is high again, isn't it?"

"It'll be faster than walking, I guess." Lin dropped her cleaning cloth into the bucket with the others. "I'm ready to go when you are."

"Hang on, I'd better visit Yubaba."

Lin stared in disbelief. "You want to see _her_?" she asked.

"Sure," I said. "I'll just be a few minutes." I walked into the elevator again, pulling the handle to go up. At the stop, I changed elevators. A duck joined me for a few floors. Minutes later, the door opened and I was standing at the entrance to a tiled room, porcelain urns in every direction. 'Tacky,' I thought. The door was to the right. I knocked, trying my best to be polite. I never liked the woman, but she was scary if you rubbed her wrong. The knocker stayed mercifully silent, and the door swung open.


	3. Yubaba

Chapter 3: Yubaba

I walked slowly through Yubaba's rooms, hoping I could find my way through the maze. It was harder without her magic pulling me along, but after a bit, I found it. Yubaba's office. I knocked on the door, and the bolt slid open.

I didn't realize I had been leaning against the door until it opened, and I sprawled on the floor.

"I see you haven't gotten any less clumsy, Sen," said Yubaba from behind her desk. "That's a little disappointing after so long." I stood. She was doing some sort of magic on a pile of chipped bath tokens. "Well? What brings you back here? Are your parents turning back into pigs or something?"

"No, ma'am. They're actually very well," I said. "I came to see everyone again - to prove to myself that it wasn't a dream." I knew I couldn't hide that from her even if I wanted to. She'd see it in my face or something - honestly, the woman could probably read minds.

"I suppose you want to see Haku then?" Yubaba came around her desk. "He's not here, you know. He quit when you left."

"Yes," I replied. "Lin told me. I wanted to thank you, actually."

"Thank me?" Yubaba asked, incredulous. "As I recall, you spent a large portion of your time here whining." She sent the tokens out the door past me, I assumed to the foreman. "What could you want to thank me for?"

I smiled. "Plenty of things. For teaching me that life doesn't always go the way I want, that good things require work..." There were too many to list all at once. "For returning my parents to me." That was the most important anyway, right?

Yubaba nodded. Her huge red nails were tapping on her desk, a rhythm I didn't recognize. "You're welcome," she said hurriedly. I knew she wasn't fond of being so nice, but I had to thank her. "You should go before it gets too late. The tracks are hard to see at night." It was still freaky how she knew things I didn't tell her.

"Thank you for seeing me." I bowed. "I hope your bathhouse continues to prosper," I said. Yubaba had turned around already, going behind her desk. I walked out of her office, out of the tiled rooms, and took the elevator down to the lobby.

Lin was waiting. "Wow, took you long enough."

"Sorry," I said. "It took a while finding my way in and out of her office." Lin nodded. Apparently that wasn't an unusual problem. A few minutes later, we were outside. I had forgotten how stifled the bathhouse could be - the air out here felt so clean and invigorating.

"It'll take a minute to get the boat," Lin said. We worked together. The boat hadn't been used for a while, and it was buried beneath a pile of old oars. Why they needed so many oars, I never found out.

The trip took a long time, longer than the train. Lin and I took turns steering, but even then the two of us were worn out when we reached the right bit of land. It didn't take too long to get to Zeniba's house from there - the path was clear, even in the dark. I waved to the lamp above the road. It waved back. _'That wasn't a dream either,' _I thought. _'Good.' _I liked the little lamp.

Then, we were at her door. I touched the shining hairband around my ponytail again. _'It will protect you. It's made from the threads your friends wove together.'_

I knocked.


End file.
